"This book makes very accessible needed material and penetrating insights about one of the pressing issues in our nation and in our churches-the separation of church and state. The book comes from the sharp mind of Mark Whitten. His discussions of the various issues in the church-state debate are founded solidly in history, philosophy, and theology. He has the place of the church at heart, and those who want to advocate a healthy relationship between church and state should read, study, and discuss this book." - Joe Blair, Chair, Department of Christianity & Philosophy, Houston Baptist University
"This book can be dangerous; its carefully researched and reasonably debated conclusions may force serious thinking that plays havoc with long held opinions. Veering neither to the right nor to the left, Mark Weldon Whitten boldly engages controversy-detonating popular, though lethal, myths; embracing points of view often considered contradictory; and constructing a thought-full foundation for religious liberty that is good for the integrity of religion (all religions), beneficial to the health of government, and crucial to preserving the constitutional provision of freedom for people's practice of both faith and politics." - C. Welton Gaddy, Executive Direct of the Interfaith Alliance and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation
"I am happy to recommend this interesting, readable book on the separation of church and state. Dr. Whitten writes authoritatively about his important subject, and he communicates his vision with clarity. He shows that the separation of church and state is a legacy for all Americans rather than an eccentric view of an extremist fringe." -Fisher Humphreys, Samford University, Beeson Divinity School
"Writing as a committed Christian, Whitten tells us why he does not want a 'Christian America.' He also tells us, however, why he does not want an America stripped of religious values. This book should bring American citizens to their feet with cheers, and it should not matter whether those citizens are Christian or non-Christian, religious or non-religious."-Walter B. Shurden, Chair, Department of Christianity, Callaway Professor of Christianity, Mercer University, Macon, GA
"In this important book Mark Whitten may have a solution to one of the most heated issues in American public life today, that is, what kind of church-state separation will preserve the free exercise of religion? He says it with both wisdom and passion." -E. Glenn Hinson, Baptist Theological Seminary
"Mark Whitten has written an insightful book. He challenges many of the shibboleths and much of the misinformation in our 'culture wars' and our church-state battles. To today's often-volatile climate of religious liberty debates, he contributes a sensible and balanced treatment of the issues. This book of essays will be a useful guide for personal reflection as well as small group study. I gladly recommend it."-Dr. William L. Turner, South Main Baptist Church, Houston, TX
"That Thomas Jefferson's Wall of Separation is not a total explanation of the First Amendment is shown in numerous on-going court cases, the attempts t establish a "Christian America," and the books and articles which attempt to describe what, at times, seems more of a wet noodle than a rigid and impenetrable wall. Mark Whitten helps us get our bearings by not only pointing out the dangers of the agenda of the religious right but also the error of an interpretation which excises religion from American civil life. Well documented from original sources, the author explodes myths surrounding the "religious" formation of the Constitution and gives us firm ground on which to stand as we face the never ending struggle to find faithful and tangible expressions of this country's separation of church and state."- Robert H. Tucker, First Congregational Church, Houston, TX
"Whitten stands in the Baptist tradition of Isaac Backus, John Leland, George W. Truett, Rufus W. Weaver, and Joseph M. Dawson. He exposes the deficiencies of both "Christian America" revisionism and of secular humanism in interpreting the religion clauses of the U.S. Constitution. He seeks to correct both David Barton and Robert Bork on the one hand and Leo Pfeffer and Thomas Flynn on the other and calls for a renewal of public debate with respect and restraint. Whitten implies but does not state that if Christians wish American Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists to become Christians, they must employ the evangelization of word and deed, not the politics of religious disenfranchisement."
-James Leo Garrett Jr., Distinguished Professor of Theology, Emeritus, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
This book is designed to communicate the constitutional philosophy and principle of church-state separation to pastors, laypersons, and anyone who is not conversant with the discipline of church-state studies. The intent is to counter the mythology and misinformation that is widely being perpetrated among conservative Christians today concerning the purposes of the Founding Fathers in their establishment of the United States of America by the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and in the rights of the nation outlined in the Constitution of 1787.
Many conservative Christians advocate that our Founding Fathers intended to establish the United States as a "Christian" nation and based their efforts directly for sake of the Christian religion. This misinformation also contends that "Christian" denominations merit special privileges and protection from the state that are not the rights of other religions and therefore, that church-state separation is a "myth" - a falsehood or a lie.
This mythological view of the origins and nature of our nation is grounded in and supportive of an "establishment mentality" and agenda on the part of fundamentalist Christians who will be referred to in the following essays as the Religious Right. Speaking of some contemporary Baptists whose forebears had such a significant role in instituting religious liberty and church-state separation in our nation, Glenn Hinson wrote,
Majority status has not only dampened concern [for religious liberty], it has tended to create and establishment mentality, one that seeks special favors for the majority...In subtle ways, despite the guarantees of the Constitution, Protestants sometimes have taken advantage of their majority in the United States to assure dominance in public life. It is indeed ironic that evangelical Protestants who sought free exercise and no establishment of religion when they were minorities subsequently seek to preserve or regain governmental accommodation, preference, privilege, and quasi-establishment for their particular brand of religion. In the words of Hinson, " As they have become the religious majority, the have sought accommodation - quasi-establishment - and have become considerably less sympathetic to the free exercise right of minorities." It is in opposition to this establishment mentality and agenda that these essays are presented.
